


Submerge

by safarikalamari



Category: American Gods (TV), American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Falling In Love, First Meetings, M/M, One Shot, Present Tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22260814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/safarikalamari/pseuds/safarikalamari
Summary: The Jinn comes across some unexpected company
Relationships: The Jinn | Ifrit/Salim (American Gods)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	Submerge

It is rare that the Jinn finds the beach so empty. 

There’s usually a stray child or someone collecting washed up treasures from the sea. Today, even the wind feels out of place and the Jinn tries to stifle the urge to cover his eyes. He should be safe. He’s quick enough to hide the flames, but a shiver travels down his spine.

Someone, something, is watching him.

Turning sharply around, the Jinn sees nothing among the sand, nor in the jagged rocks that the waves crash upon. He’s become paranoid and with many more years ahead of him, he has no doubt that this feeling will grow. He tries to talk himself down, but the nagging doesn’t go away. 

Taking matters into his own hands, the Jinn heads towards the rocks first, standing tall as if to defy anything that comes his way. He wonders, for a moment, if shifting his appearance might make his watcher come forth. 

“I’ll be of little use to you,” the Jinn calls into the wind. “My powers aren’t what they used to be.”

“Surely that can’t be true.”

The voice is soft, but the Jinn catches it all the same and he glances down to see a webbed hand near his feet. The Jinn holds his breath as a man with a scaled tail, as white as stars with patches of brown, props himself up, resting his head on his forearms.

“And here I thought your kind was long gone,” the Jinn can’t help comment and the merman laughs. 

“I could say the same for you, Jinn.”

The Jinn sits himself down on the rock, admiring how the merman’s scales shimmer in the sunlight. The end of his tail is still submerged in the water, but the Jinn can still see how it floats and flicks with the waves.

“So, what is it you want, man of the sea?” the Jinn starts, noting how the merman’s gaze trails up and down the length of his body.

“Salim,” the merman responds. “I am just Salim.”

The Jinn’s mouth quirks up in amusement and he lets his hand get a little closer to Salim’s. “All right, Just Salim. My question still stands.”

Salim buries his mouth behind his arms, his eyes looking up with a curious reflection. “I’m lonely,” he states. 

The Jinn wants to shrug at this, to say many are alone, god and mortal. He holds his tongue however, knowing better than to bring down Salim like that. Instead, he motions for Salim to say more. 

“I don’t want to follow down my ancestors’ paths. To accept loneliness if there is nothing else. I’d rather die a man on the earth, surrounded by...anything. Anything at all.”

“What stories we’ve been told,” the Jinn breathes. 

His cynical self still threatens to surface. While he is not the last jinn, he doesn’t care for the others’ company. He’s found contentment elsewhere, or so he likes to think. He glances down at Salim, his breath stopping for a moment as those brown eyes pierce into his very soul. It’s as if his eyes hold no flames at all and the Jinn blinks just to make sure they are still lit. 

“Why me?” he asks as Salim slides a hand over his own. 

“Why not?”

The Jinn is soft, that much he is sure of, as he allows Salim to lead him into the water. It is not as cold as he expects, but all he can see is the shining face of Salim.

“I have been watching you for some time, my friend,” Salim smiles, now taking both of the Jinn’s hands. “Perhaps we may find something different. In each other.”

Any sensible words die on the Jinn’s lips and he shudders only once as Salim brings them underwater. The sun reflects to the sandy bottom, the water just about the Jinn’s head. It’s then that Salim leans in, capturing the Jinn’s mouth with his own. It feels like an exchange of breath, but none of that is needed for two men of another world. The Jinn crumbles easily, his need for affection growing by the moment. 

Time and time again, he’s shared his bed with another, but it has not felt like this. There is barely a sound under the waves as the Jinn feels Salim’s tail wrap around his legs. The Jinn thinks he would like this to last forever, but it is Salim who pulls away first. 

They stay under the water as both share an exchange through the whispering of their minds, a conversation of understanding and hopefulness as the sea holds them together. 

A new future lays ahead for them and the Jinn only wishes he had noticed Salim sooner.

**Author's Note:**

> i would like to expand on this universe but ....
> 
> [Tingle](http://safarikalamari.tumblr.com)


End file.
